


Chemistry

by simonsprettyface



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Lab Partners, M/M, mundane AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 06:36:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simonsprettyface/pseuds/simonsprettyface
Summary: To say Simon wasn’t exactly thrilled when he was paired with Jace would be an understatement, but he knew he could make it work. He was a little bit of a nerd, he could work with anyone under the right circumstances. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.





	Chemistry

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know, not my best title work. But titles are hard.

To say Simon wasn’t exactly thrilled when he was paired with Jace would be an understatement, but he knew he could make it work. He was a little bit of a nerd, he could work with anyone under the right circumstances. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. 

How Jace got into AP Chem, Simon didn’t know. He didn’t know much about Jace really, but he didn’t seem the kind to be a science nerd. A jocky fuckboy type? Sure. But not a science wiz by any means. Simon had multiple science fair awards, what did Jace have?

To be fair, Simon doesn’t know. He’s only known the Lightwoods for a few years now, so for all he knew Jace could be a genius. But from what he’s seen, he’d doubt it. It wouldn’t even pass his mind. 

“If you’re expecting me to do all the work, just tell me now,” Simon said as they got to their lab station, looking over at Jace. “I’d rather you be upfront about it.” 

Jace looked over at him, a little confused. “Come on, dude. Have some faith in me,” he chuckled. 

And so Simon did. 

There was something about Jace that both made Simon want to trust him or to get far away, but he was glad he chose to trust him. Because despite what Simon had assumed, he found Jace actually being helpful. Most of what he wanted to do was set fires to things, but to be fair that was necessary more often than not. Simon did most of the formulas and calculations while Jace did most of the actual combinations of chemicals and experiments. They were comfortable like this, and quickly rose to the top of the class. 

Though Simon was afraid of that going downhill when he got sick. 

He already hated missing a whole week of school, getting that far behind was terrifying to him. But he worried about Jace and their chemistry grade. Jace didn’t know how to do the formulas, he would be screwed. 

Or so Simon thought. 

On Friday, he heard a knock on the front door right after the school day would’ve ended. Going to the door in just a pair of old pajama pants and a Star Wars tshirt, Simon opened it and was surprised at who was standing there. “Jace?” he asked, confused. “What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?”

Jace held up a folder, shaking it slightly. “Wanted to bring you your makeup work. I know you would want a head start on it,” he said, shrugging. “Clary told me where you lived. Hope that’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said with a smile. 

“Oh,” Simon said softly, looking over at him. “Well, thanks,” he said, taking the folder from him. “That’s really nice of you. So, how’s our chem grade? I hope we haven’t dropped down too much,” he said, sounding a bit dejected. He really needed to pass all of his classes.

Jace cocked an eyebrow, looking completely confused. “What do you mean? I was there, I did the work,” he said like it was obvious.

“Yeah but I wasn’t there to do the formulas and calculations and stuff,” Simon pointed out. “That’s a good part of the points. Not that what you do isn’t important too, just… you know.”

Jace crossed his arms, looking at him now obviously more than a little mad. “You think I’m too dumb to do the work?” he asked. “I’m not just a pretty face. I did the paper work too so that we wouldn’t fall behind. You’re welcome,” he said, turning to leave. “I told you to trust me.”

When Jace left, Simon felt bad about the whole thing. He knew he shouldn’t have assumed Jace couldn’t do the work, he realized that there was a lot more to learn about Jace. And after that day, he did. During class, he started really talking to Jace. Which went from just during the school day to inviting him over after school to hang out. One of those days, he had to ask something that had been on his mind since the Lightwoods came to their school a couple years before.

“So why don’t you look like your siblings?” Simon asked, looking over at Jace sitting next to him on the couch. 

“What?” Jace asked, chuckling. 

“You know, Alec and Izzy. Why don’t you look like them?”

“Dude, really? I’m adopted. Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, laughing more. “Me and Alec look nothing alike and are almost the same age,” he pointed out. 

“Oh,” Simon said, and yeah it was kind of obvious, but he didn’t want to assume. “I mean, now that you say it...”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, nudging him. “It’s not something I hide, but I don’t really talk about it a lot if it doesn’t come up, you know? But yeah, I’m adopted. Long story short, I’m an orphan and the Lightwoods adopted me when I was ten. They had us in this special math and science school for a while and then when they got divorced, we started coming here,” he admitted. 

Simon’s eyes went wide at that, shifting to look at him better. “ _ You _ ? At a math and science school?” he asked, trying to not sound too surprised. 

“I know, I know. Dumb ass jock like me? I told you, more than just a pretty face,” he chuckled. “Izzy’s the real science genius of the family though,” he admitted. “But I did pick up some stuff. So now you know why we didn’t fail just because you were out sick for a week,” he smiled. 

“Hot and lowkey a genius? God, I could kiss you,” Simon said without thinking, chuckling to himself.

“I mean, if you did I wouldn’t mind,” Jace said honestly, shrugging.

Simon faltered for a moment, looking over at him. “Wait, what?”

“I said if you wanted to kiss me, I wouldn’t mind,” Jace bit his lip. “I… you’re not going to be an asshole about this, are you? Even if that was a joke, I thought you’d be okay with me liking guys since Clary’s gay and she’s your best friend,” he rambled, starting to worry.

Simon leaned in and pressed their lips together hurriedly, wanting to calm Jace down. After a moment they both relaxed, starting to properly kiss and oh God, he was kissing Jace. They were really kissing on his mom’s couch in the middle of the living room.

“I like guys too,” Simon said breathlessly, looking into his eyes. “And I like you.”

“I like you too,” Jace admitted, smiling. “Like ever since we got paired together this is all I thought about.”

“Yeah? I guess you could say we’ve got chemestry,” Simon smirked and Jace groaned.

“Never mind, I don’t like you anymore.”

“Just shut up and kiss me again.”

And Jace did. 


End file.
